A FAMILY has struggled with living in limbo after a fire which spread along their terrace forced them to move out with none of their belongings.

A blaze ripped through a Holly Close house in May and scorched the roof of a neighbouring property.

Tina Bailey and her partner were in that next-door house and they have since found it hard to adjust to unfamiliar temporary accommodation with none of their belongings.

The couple and their two children were moved out of the charred council house in Rodbourne and have spent the last few months trying to rebuild their lives and adjust to new, smaller surroundings.

One single bedroom was partitioned so the children have separate places to sleep, though the spaces are too small to fit any furniture other than a bed.

Tina told the Adver: "My depression has gone through the roof, I've had suicidal thoughts and started going to counselling.

"Our stuff is all second-hand because we couldn't go into our old home to get any of our things. We've had to start from scratch and are living out of bags.

"The house should have been like-for-like. My son has back problems and his old bed helped with that, his new room is very cramped."

One thought which keeps pressing on their minds is if or when they will be able to return home as, despite the roof damage, most of the rooms and possessions are intact.

Tina added: "The council's housing team messaged us in June saying 'we'll have a rough date for when you can return later this week', but we've been going backwards and forwards with them since then and we still don't know.

"They've said they're going to carry out repairs but there's no timeframe other than a suggestion that it could take 10 months.

"Even if we could get some of our old furniture out of there, it wouldn't fit in this place anyway. We can't claim the insurance yet either.

"We feel like we've been forgotten about. We just want to know when we can go home, or at least be moved somewhere more suitable."

Swindon Advertiser: A fire ripped through a Holly Close home and damaged a neighbouring property. Picture:Dave CoxA fire ripped through a Holly Close home and damaged a neighbouring property. Picture:Dave Cox (Image: Dave Cox)

A Swindon Borough Council spokesman said: "We are in weekly contact with our tenant as we appreciate this is a very unsettling time.

"Assessments on whether the property can be brought back into use are still being carried out and we are looking to resolve this as quickly as we can.

"We will continue to liaise with our tenant in the meantime.”